Bynum had wanted to play for more than the league minimum (we don’t yet know the details of the contract yet but the Pacers could offer more than the minimum) and for a contender, he got those things in Indiana.

“It really wasn’t a hard decision, I think it’s the right fit for me and, in all honesty, I think we’ve got the best chance of winning,” Bynum said in a statement released by the Pacers. “It will be great to back up Roy and I’ll do whatever I can to help this team.”

“We are obviously happy to have him join our team,” Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird said in a statement. “He gives us added size, he is a skilled big man and he has championship experience. With the minutes he gets, he should be a valuable addition.”

This gives the Pacers an even bigger and more formidable front line. They start Roy Hibbert up front with David West and now off the bench can bring Bynum, Ian Mahinmi, Luis Scola and Chris Copeland. Just as importantly for them, the Miami Heat can’t sign Bynum and throw him at Indiana in what seems an inevitable Eastern Conference Finals matchup.

8:00 a.m.: Conventional wisdom has been the only reason the Indiana Pacers were in the discussion to sign Andrew Bynum was to keep him away from the Heat. However, since Greg Oden has played fairly well in limited minutes for Miami, talk of signing Bynum to bring him to South Beach kind of cooled and interest in Bynum overall seemed lukewarm.

Bynum’s agent David Lee told The Indianapolis Star that he and Bynum were in town. According to Lee, Bynum and the Pacers have not reached a contractual agreement.

“(Bynum) has not signed as yet,” Lee said on Friday night.

The Pacers have All-Star center Roy Hibbert as the starter and bring Ian Mahinmi off the bench in a rotation that has worked very well — the Pacers at 35-10 have the best record in the East. They are strong up front, a defensive force — they are not signing Bynum to plug a hole in their rotation. Which makes the signing curious, if it goes through.

Bynum started the season injured under contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He went on to play 24 games for them, starting 19, and he averaged 8.4 points a game on just 41.9 percent shooting, plus he grabbed 5.3 rebounds a game. On the court he was limited and with that lost favor with coach Mike Brown. Off the court he was enough of a distraction that the team suspended Bynum the day after Christmas. The Cavaliers traded his contract at the deadline to the Bulls, who instantly waived him.

Bynum has ongoing knee issues which have required multiple surgeries and there are questions of if Bynum has the will, dedication and love for the game to push through them in play.

Bynum was a free agent for more than two weeks and what was holding teams back was both the concerns about his desire and that he reportedly wants more than the league minimum to play (and teams were loath to offer that)

If the Pacers do sign Bynum at whatever may get a little run, but mostly this would be a preventative strike.